Happy Birthday
by Vanie
Summary: On July 31st, Hermione visits Harry’s grave to tell him about life in a world where Voldemort reigns and all hope has perished. Little did she know, love can still be found in the darkest of places.


******Author's Note:** Just a one-shot that I felt like writing one day. Review please!

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling, not me.

* * *

**Happy Birthday**

In the midst of a graveyard, a beautiful woman stood alone in front of a headstone. It was cracked in several places, and had been kicked and spat on and pissed on so many times before.

_Harry James Potter_

_July 31, 1980 – May 2, 1998_

The woman was now underweight, and her body was malnourished. Her hair was no longer thick and unruly, it was thin and lifeless. Her eyes had lost their shine, her lips were dry and her skin was unnaturally pale. But she was still beautiful. Her soul was still beautiful.

"Hi, Harry," she smiled to the headstone. "It's your birthday today. Happy birthday. I don't know where Ron is, but I do know wherever he is, he wishes you a happy birthday too." she stopped for a moment. "Blaise has been treating me well. He told me he loved me. I said it back, but I don't think I meant it. I'm grateful that he's my master, but if I was free again and had a choice, I don't think I would stay with him."

"All done?" she turned around to face a tall, bronze-skinned man wearing expensive black robes. She gave a tiny nod, and he held out a strip of leather in his hand for her. She gave it a disapproving look and turned away. "Hermione, you _need_ to put the collar back on. We're going to Diagon Alley."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"It's Draco's welcome back party. I have to be there," he explained. She twitched at the name. Draco Malfoy. She loathed that name, yet at the same time she loved the sound of it. She never did understand her nonsensical, perennial crush on Draco Malfoy. But it was there. It had always been there. It was there when he called her a Mudblood for the first time, it was there when he tried to assassinate Dumbledore, it was there when he confirmed her identity to his parents and Bellatrix Lestrange and it sure as hell was there when Harry took his own life, and he celebrated along with the rest of the Death Eaters.

"I don't."

"Don't argue with me, okay?" Blaise sighed and ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. "Put the collar on so we can go. I don't want to be late." She didn't budge. He stepped towards her and put the collar around her neck before fastening it. She hated the feeling. It constricted her throat, and made her feel lower than dirt. That's what she was. Lower than dirt. Lower than a fucking dog.

"Do you love me?" Blaise cupped her face with his hands.

"Yes," Hermione said.

Blaise smiled and let go of her, "Let's go. Remember, you're my slave. Don't disobey me." Hermione nodded numbly and as he took hold of her hand, she felt the familiar unpleasant pulling sensation known as Side-Along Apparition. They found themselves standing in Diagon Alley, in front of an expensive restaurant Hermione had never seen before.

"You see? Everybody brings their slaves around," he pointed out. Sure enough, through the restaurant window, Hermione could see many Death Eaters mingling with each other, while their slaves followed them despondently, their heads hung low.

Blaise entered the restaurant, and Hermione followed suit. There was Bellatrix Lestrange and her slave, Luna Lovegood. Amycus Carrow and Bill Weasley. Antonin Dolohov and Katie Bell. Lucius Malfoy and Kingsley Shacklebolt. It didn't matter if you were a Mudblood or a Half-Blood or a Pureblood. If you were on the Light Side during the Battle of Hogwarts or you didn't take the Dark Mark after, you would forever live as a slave.

Antonin Dolohov approached Blaise to greet him, and Hermione's eyes met with Katie's.

"Katie," Hermione whispered. The former lively Gryffindor Hermione once knew was nothing more than a skeletal figure covered with bruises. The same black collar was around her neck.

"Hermione." Katie said softly when she made sure Antonin was not paying attention.

"How are you?"

"What do you think?" Katie muttered. "Ron Weasley's here."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat, "What? Here? In this restaurant?"

"No, but he's back in the country. Draco Malfoy's his master. That's why we haven't seen him since the battle."

"Oh my God," Hermione breathed. After Harry's death, Hermione had only managed to catch a glimpse of Ron before the Death Eaters captured them and assigned them to their masters. Nobody knew where he was or what had become of him, but suddenly, Hermione got her answer. He was Draco Malfoy's slave. Draco had departed from England immediately after the battle, having given an important task from Lord Voldemort. He was finally back.

"Come along!" Antonin barked at Katie before walking off quickly. Katie gave Hermione a desperate look before obeying her master and scurrying away.

"I want to say hello to my old best friend," Blaise said in hushed tones to Hermione. He made his way through the crowd with Hermione. She felt as she couldn't breathe when her eyes fell on a handsome young man with platinum blond hair. He looked so different to the seventeen-year-old boy she once knew.

Draco noticed Blaise and broke into a grin as he held his hand out for him, "Blaise Zabini."

"Draco Malfoy," Blaise shook his hand. "It's been far too long."

"It has," he agreed. He noticed Hermione and a smirk grew on his lips. "What's this? She can't possibly be the mudblood I think she is."

"She is," Blaise said stiffly.

"You know, Weasley's my slave," Draco said to her. "He's quite pathetic, really. Don't worry, I keep him in line."

"You disgusting, conceited little fucker!" Hermione spat at his feet. She heard Blaise take in a sharp intake of breath, and Draco's expression turned from amused to furious in mere seconds.

"Well, Blaise? She insulted me. You know the rules. If a slave is disrespectful to a Death Eater, he or she must be punished with the Cruciatus Curse." Draco said.

"No," Blaise said. Hermione gasped and looked at her master. What was he doing?

"What?" Draco hissed.

"She is _my_ slave, Draco. I will decide how to punish her."

"Except you're not going to punish her, are you?" he broke into a knowing smirk. "No, you're going to fuck her senseless—"

"That's enough, Malfoy!" Blaise shouted. His face was distorted with rage that she had never seen before. His outburst had attracted an audience.

"Looks like I hit a nerve there." Draco kept his smirk in place. "Do you know what the punishment is for a master who fails to properly discipline his slave? I believe it's ten years in Azkaban, isn't it?"

Blaise remained silent.

"Are you seriously willing to go to Azkaban for a lowly Mudblood slave?" Draco asked incredulously. "You've changed, Blaise."

"And you're still the same bastard I knew two years ago."

"Rowle," Draco called, and Thorfinn Rowle instantly walked up to them. "Arrest Zabini. For failing to punish his slave."

Thorfinn let out a low grumble and grabbed Blaise's arm.

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione asked Blaise.

"I told you, I love you." Blaise smiled at her. He _smiled_.

"Blaise, just do it. It'll be okay, just do it," she said frantically.

"I can't do that. Not to you, Hermione." And with that, Thorfinn pulled the Italian wizard through the crowd, his wand at his head.

"DO IT! Do it now, or I won't love you anymore!" Hermione screamed at Blaise, tears running down her cheeks. Everybody watched with shocked expressions on their faces.

"We both know you never did." Blaise managed to say before Thorfinn forced him out of the restaurant.

"Was is going on, son?" Lucius asked Draco.

"Blaise Zabini refused to punish his slave accordingly."

"I see." Lucius nodded.

"I believe that means I gain ownership of his slave, don't I? Seeing as I am the one who reported him." Draco inquired. Hermione let out a gasp. Without Blaise, she wasn't safe. Who knew what Draco would do to her? He hated her more than anyone else while they were at school.

"Yes, that is so." Lucius examined Hermione. "Although why you would want this Mudblood as a slave is beyond me."

"Two slaves are better than one, father," Draco smirked. He turned to Hermione. "You're mine now."

Hours later, the party finally ended. Hermione felt completely numb. Blaise willingly went to Azkaban for her. She was just his slave! She didn't understand. And now she belonged to Draco Malfoy. She had no doubt in her mind that he would torture her constantly. Physically and mentally.

"We're going, Granger," Draco announced after he bid farewell to his fellow Death Eaters. "I'm sure you and Weasley have a lot to catch up on." he took hold of her arm roughly and Apparated them to his home, the Malfoy Manor.

Hermione had to refrain herself from screaming when she saw a slave with red hair, cleaning the marble floor with a rag.

"Ron?" Hermione cried.

"H-Hermione?" Ron looked up with utter astonishment.

"Oh my God, Ron, it's really you!" forgetting that Draco was there, Hermione rushed up to her long lost best friend and hugged him tightly.

"Hermione…" Ron said into her hair. "I missed you so much."

"Oh, Ron." Hermione was close to tears. "I thought… I thought you were dead…"

When they let go of each other, she noticed that Draco Malfoy was gone.

"What are you doing here, Hermione?"

"Malfoy's my new master."

"What about Zabini? I heard he was your master." Ron frowned.

"He… he didn't punish me, so he was sent to Azkaban."

"He didn't punish you? I never would've thought Blaise Zabini had a heart."

"He never hurt me. Not once." Hermione sighed. It was true. It was she who willingly starved herself after she fell into depression.

"Malfoy doesn't hurt me either. Not physically, anyway."

"He doesn't?" Hermione asked in surprise. "He made it seem like he does at the party."

"It's just for show," Ron said. "He still thinks I'm a blood-traitor Weasel, though, and he makes me work like a dog around here. Truth is, Hermione, he's a pathetic Death Eater. Every time he does something for You-Know-Who, he comes back and mopes around the whole day."

"You know, Ron, today is Harry's birthday."

Ron's face hardened, "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. I went to his grav-"

"Hermione, don't talk about him, okay?" Ron interrupted angrily.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to hear his fucking name!"

"He's our best friend, Ron-"

"We could've won!" Ron shouted. "We still had a chance, and he threw it all away because of his own selfishness! He wanted to escape his own pain, and he didn't even give a fuck about ours! I lost my parents because of him! I lost George and Charlie and Ginny! You lost your parents because of that fucking son of a bitch!"

"How _dare_ you speak like that?! Harry is our friend!" Hermione screamed.

"Last time I checked, you can't be friends with dead people, Hermione!"

"He'll always be with us! He's our best friend, none of this is his fault!"

"You're only saying that because you've been living the good life," Ron said bitterly.

"The _good_ life? I'm a slave too!" Hermione pointed out.

"But we both know it wasn't like that, don't we? I may not be able to leave this hellhole, but I hear things. Things about you and Zabini, how you've been his willing whore all this time—"

"You better shut your mouth!" Hermione yelled. "You have no idea what's been going on with my life!"

"Granger," a silky voice interrupted their row. Hermione spun around to face Draco Malfoy, her new master. "Follow me."

She cast Ron a disdainful look before following Draco into another room nervously. It was a library. Not just any library, but the most amazing library Hermione had ever seen. It was large, with endless aisles of ceiling-high bookcases filled with more books that Hermione had ever thought possible. She couldn't help but smile, really smile, for the first time in two years.

Draco was staring at her, arms crossed, with a pleased look on his face.

"What?" Hermione frowned. She was not scared of him. She had never been.

"It's good to see you're still the same bookworm you were at school." he smirked.

"I'm just… mesmerized. I haven't touched a book in more than two years," she said.

"Zabini never let you read?"

"He didn't trust me." she scanned the bookshelves with her greedy eyes, her back towards Draco.

"Shame," he said. "Do you know how long I've wanted you for?"

Hermione froze and slowly turned around to face him, "What?"

"That day, after the battle… the Dark Lord said we could choose our own personal slave. I looked for you everywhere, but Zabini got to you first. So I settled for Weasley."

"Why did you want me?" Hermione demanded.

"Granger, I've always wanted you." he walked up to her and caressed her face softly, sending a jolt of electricity through her body, making her feel more alive than she had ever thought possible. "And now I have you. You're mine, forever."

One entire year later, an attractive woman walked through a lonely graveyard. She laid down a bouquet of white lilies at the grave of Harry James Potter and smiled.

"Hello, Harry," Hermione said softly. "You should've turned twenty today. Happy birthday. Ron's fine. I know he will forgive you one day. He's just angry and he's grieving, because he lost the most in the war. Draco has been treating me well. He told me he loved me. I said it back, and I meant every word. I love him, I really do. You probably think it doesn't make sense. Nothing in this world seems to make sense anymore."

"Ready to go?" she turned around to face a tall, fair-skinned man. She took a deep breath and nodded. He held out his hand, and he had nothing to offer but his undying love.


End file.
